do you think that Bachmann will release a HO version of the Mount Washington cog railway if so would you buy it I mean it would be cool to have a version of the mountwashigtoncograilway that looks realistic
Seriously doubt it. There would never be near enough demand I have seen the steamer and bio-diesel versions up close. The diesel might be easier to model but not the steamer.
The track and turnouts, that is another story.
Rich
Andrew-
I'd be very surprised if Bachmann, or anyone for that matter, will ever make a set for a cog railway. There just wouldn't be enough interest which means the price would have to be extremely high to cover the development costs, and that huge price would discourage most of the potential buyers. The Pike's Peak railway is more likely to interest modelers, I think, but I don't expect that will ever be produced either. You do, however, have some options for mountain animation on your layout.
The first is to get the Marklin (I think) ski lift. It's spendy but it looks like fun. I'd slow it way down from its normal speed. Then there's the cable car that one of the European companies (maybe Marklin again, but I don't think so, or maybe Faller) makes for a circus or amusement park ride. It should be fairly easy to adapt that so it runs from mountain to mountain or from low to high. Or, put a narrow gauge railroad on your mountains. A geared loco, or even a NG Mike or Connie, would be able to handle the tough grades and tight turns. Narrow gauge modeling isn't much tougher than regular modeling and you may even be able to adapt a narrow gauge line onto your existing scenery. If you haven't yet built your scenery it would be easy to include a narrow gauge right-of-way in your plans.
Then there's the possibility of scratch building a cog railway. This would be a challenge but a fun one. The loco would be the hardest and I wouldn't even try to do any kind of couplers. Just use screws to hold a drawbar. Use very short, old-style passenger cars, or maybe the Thomas the Tank Engine passenger cars. Use either European four-wheel freight cars or old time US freight cars if you want to do more than run a single train up and down. That will mean designing and building turnouts, which will probably be easier than it seems, but not a cake walk. You'll have to rework the rolling stock undercarriages to accommodate whatever grade you use. You'll have to make major modifications to your motive power, including a gear underneath to engage the gear strip, and I imagine the loco would need to be very heavy to avoid just rising up on the cogs.
A good alternative would be to fake the motive power. Adapt a loco (I agree that a diesel would be easier than steam, whether operating or not) to the grade and install the cog strip but use a fishing line or some such to actually do the work. You could let the line show or conceal it under the tracks and let it pull the train up and down with a long pin from under the loco, maybe through the fake cog you'd need to show. You could automate the whole thing without too much trouble. Pull the train up, wait a preset amount of time and then send the train back down. I suppose you could also us a strong magnet, like a neodymium magnet, under the tracks but I'm afraid the motion might be jerky unless you really refine the drive mechanism. With a positive push/pull drive moving the magnet up well-lubricated aluminum channels and free wheeling loco and train cars it might smooth out enough.
Let us know if you go ahead with this.
-- D
Steamer.
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1508.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/richg1998/media/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1508.jpg.html)
Bio-diesel
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1511.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/richg1998/media/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1511.jpg.html)
Track work.
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1556.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/richg1998/media/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1556.jpg.html)
Drive sprocket on the diesel.
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1548.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/richg1998/media/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1548.jpg.html)
Rich
I am sure that the turnout is powered. Does anyone know how it is powered?
Cog or rack railroad equipment has been offered in HO and other scales, complete with appropriate track.
Only one steam locomotive has been offered in HO that I know of. This was a rack-and-adhesion locomotive, offered by Fleischmann. Apparently it is no longer in production.
http://www.reynaulds.com/products/Fleischmann/403401.aspx
http://www.reynaulds.com/products/Fleischmann/4034.aspx
Here's a page where a fellow tried this in N scale:
http://www.scottpages.net/WallMountN.html
It appears that in HO, Fleischmann offered a center rack that clipped into regular HO track:
http://www.reynaulds.com/products/Fleischmann/6412.aspx
More people discussing rack roads, in this case in HO narrow gauge:
http://www.modelrailforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=567
This is very definitely a minority interest, with little in the way of commercial products. At the same time, consider it a challenge! That's what some of the old timers did!
Quote from: RAM on July 31, 2013, 10:31:22 PM
I am sure that the turnout is powered. Does anyone know how it is powered?
The original turnouts where manual. This one is hydraulic control at the base. Another loco leaves right after the first loco.
Up the mountain, they use solar power. Near the top, an original manual one. Check the Cog railway sire and search You Tube. Many here forget about You Tube videos.
I think the original where a nine step process for each turnout.
Rich
I think I will just try and make the locos myself do any of you guys out there know how to get the blueprints for both steam and diesel if you can help thanks
It's not much, but it's what I could find:
http://kirovrampager.deviantart.com/art/Mt-Washington-Cog-Railway-1-Mt-Washington-WIP-338869234
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/325/3/e/mt__washington_cog_railway_1_mt__washington_wip_by_kirovrampager-d5lr56a.png
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Mt-Washington-Cog-Railway-6-TipTop-WIP-338995600
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/326/9/3/mt__washington_cog_railway_6_tiptop_wip_by_kirovrampager-d5ltuog.png
How the switches originally worked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBdCN7Ssuc0
If I were doing something like this, I would seriously consider Donaldon's suggestion of faking the locomotives (in effect, dummy engines) and working the line with a cord or thread. The prototypes of Mount Washington's locomotives are rather on the small side, and would be difficult to build in a larger scale; you're talking about something the size of an N scale switcher on HO standard gauge. Alternately, you could power the coach the locomotive pushes up the mountain, and substitute a coupling of some sort between it and the dummy locomotive in place of the buffers/rollers used by the prototype (the cars and the locomotives aren't really coupled on this railroad, except by gravity).
In any event, if you get to do something with this, be sure to keep us posted, and if whatever you do comes out looking really good, consider writing it up as an article for Model Railroader or some other publication.
thanks for the help now I can study the blueprints and experiment on my old loco so that way when I'm ready for some more engines I know how to make them look like cog engines if I want now I just 1 thing can anyone find out what sized gear would work for an HO scale engine
should I try and make the track look like this two rails and the rack off center a little or two rails and the rack perfectly center ???
Most rack railroads have a centered rack, and that's what I would choose--but naturally, there was an off-center variant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_railway
It's interesting to note in the Wikipedia article that there is mention of various steep railroads around the world, including some worked by adhesion. And look what's in that list--Cass Scenic, with grades exceeding 11%! That road averages 5%, has several stretches of 7-8% (including one where they regularly have to start the train from a water stop), and two stretches of that 11%. One of them used to be 13%! And the road still had to use switchbacks, too. And hey, Bachmann makes a Shay and a Climax that are both at Cass. . .plus log cars, a donkey engine, and excursion cars. . .
Back to rack lines. . .
Some photos that may be of interest of rack railroads around the world:
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2011/05/spectacular-cog-railways.html
http://www.martynbane.co.uk/2003Trips/Brienzetc/oct042003-2.htm
One of the more interesting rack roads is the Nilgiri Mountain Railway of India. This is a rack-and-adhesion line that uses locomotives with independent drive systems for adhesion and rack working.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilgiri_Mountain_Railway
More on the Nilgiri and other hill railroads of India:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fWrSJa4lrk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZZOQ6s2VGc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_21_CS0J1U
I meant like how tall round wise should the cog be for an HO engine
Judging from most of the illustrations from the rack railway pages here, it looks like the main driving cog is about the size of whatever is being used for a driving wheel, or a braked wheel on a non-powered coach.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SMR_Axle_on_display_at_Llanberis_05-07-24_20.jpeg
http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/TdR9QZiW1bI/AAAAAAABeYg/4EvbMEom0lM/s720/e5rtgwefwefwfwef.jpg
http://www.martynbane.co.uk/images/oct2003/oct0403/riggenbach.jpg
http://infovalldenuriaeng.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/p1030932_b.jpg
http://www.triposo.com/poi/Budapest_Cog-wheel_Railway
http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/slm.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richbd/7520473242/
An important point to keep in mind is that the working diameter of a cog working in a rack like this will be slightly less than the overall diameter of the gear, and will have to match the locomotive or car wheel; in other words, the gear teeth will be extending a bit below rail level. The prototype photos look like the gear teeth are about the same depth as flanges, and we use deeper flanges most of the time, so that might still be a good guide.
Alternately, some cog roads might have a cog mechanism that's independent of the rail wheels, and if that's the case, you can use almost any diameter that's convenient.
I might consider acquiring a commercial cog locomotive model and adapting its mechanism to a home-made or kitbashed superstructure. It won't be exact scale for a Mount Washington locomotive (it's almost certain to be too big, as the Mount Washington engines are quite small), but it might save a lot of grief trying to engineer this. Even if you did decide to build a whole new locomotive, the commercial mechanism would give ideas about things like tolerances, clearances, and how to work out a drive.
Below is one page from a simple Google search. You can see the size of the cog. I downloaded #20 photo and expanded it some.
http://www.cog-railway.com/03chronological.htm
A close up of an old steamer.
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1497.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/richg1998/media/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1497.jpg.html)
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1498.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/richg1998/media/Mt%20Washington/IMG_1498.jpg.html)
Gives you an idea of the relationship between the cog and driver.
Rich
Quote from: J3a-614 on August 03, 2013, 01:26:46 PM
Alternately, some cog roads might have a cog mechanism that's independent of the rail wheels, and if that's the case, you can use almost any diameter that's convenient.
Andrew and J3a-
This would be the easiest to do. Let the loco's own wheels freewheel so they can turn at any rate the gear moves along. This would make the loco unusable on non-cog track but that's not really an issue since the gear teeth are below the railhead and would cause trouble at every crossing or turnout anyway.
-- D
actually I think I'm goanna need to build an engine from scratch from the ground up so I have to go to an expert on model trains and we will build an engine and try it on some rack rail we may also do together so sorry you couldn't help me with my plan but I do need 1 more thing can anyone post a picture of a model engine that look really close to the engines at mount Washington and try and keep steam cause that's the type of engine I like
andrewd
Gosh I am going to hate myself for this but this is one of those times it's necessary.
Richg your gonna love it! ;D
Andrew instead of having us find what YOU like, how about YOU doing a google search and finding one YOU like.
Yea I hate myself for that.
Jerry
the reason I ask you guys for help is because you guys are like brothers to me and I know you guys can help me in my quest to build "my railway to the moon" and I know you wont let me down so can you just try and find it please I need to follow something as a guide
Quote from: andrewd on August 04, 2013, 08:25:18 AM
the reason I ask you guys for help is because you guys are like brothers to me and I know you guys can help me in my quest to build "my railway to the moon" and I know you wont let me down so can you just try and find it please I need to follow something as a guide
You have to realize this is a project for an advance modeler. If you need to be led by the hand, it will be a real challenge.
Modelers who do projects like this have a lot of experience and might not publish anything.
Projects were done similar to this before the Internet ever came around. The modeler had very little to rely on and had to figure this out himself. As an example, many years ago I saw some fantastic structures made out of card stock and strip wood. The modeler used his imagination and only had pictures in paper publications to go on. There was a lot of trial and error. Many are never aware of all the mistakes made when doing a project like this. They only see the finished project.
Try a Google search using, make ho scale cog railway
Vary the words and as you do more searching, you will develop a knack for searching. Store all links in Favorites or Bookmarks, depending on your Browser.
Rich
Here ya go - enough to get you started.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cog+railway+nh&qs=AS&sk=IA2&FORM=QBIR&pq=cog%20railway&sc=8-11&sp=3&qs=AS&sk=IA2
sorry but none of those pictures were helpful in showing the design of the steamers or diesels even though I only wanted steam now then does any body have any tips for me for when I get started
I thought if you started with one of those photos, followed where it came from, they might have info for you. Then if not, try the next one, etc. You'll probably have to do SOME research. Another "lead" may be to contact the Cog Railway (in New Hampshire) itself. They may be able to help a lot. Their gift shop may even have a poster of what you want.
In model railroading, we must always have some sort of compromise, simply because you might not be able to totally reduce the real world to scale (think of attempting coal-fired live steam models in HO, with working air brakes to boot).
Needless to say, some compromises can be more acceptable than others (electric motors and miniature speakers in steam locomotives, and other types as well).
In this case, you have some very serious challenges. The most obvious one is that you have to scratch build this thing. Complicating this is that the engines of this railroad are quite small (making even small motors a tight fit, along with shafts and gears as appropriate), and the driving mechanism is quite unusual, too. You also sound like someone relatively new in the hobby. That's good, but be forewarned, the learning curve for something like this is going to be steeper than Jacob's Ladder on the Mount Washington Cog. . .
The question then becomes, "Which compromises are acceptable?" The range could include:
Building a large scale model, from scratch, live steam, up some hill in your area
Building an HO model, from scratch, with micro motors, home-make Marsh rack, home-cut gears, home-cast parts such as wheels, or at least making patterns to take to a casting firm, etc.
Building an HO model, from scratch, but cheating a bit, such as making the locomotive oversize to accommodate the motor, or even a dummy locomotive pulled up a hill by a powered car (much larger than the locomotive, easier to hide the motor in it), using commercially available gears and rack.
Other compromises for operations, such as the proposal to operate this as an incline, again with what amounts to a dummy locomotive
Modifying a commercial model, even one that might be an electric locomotive prototype, to what you can use, even if it might be oversized.
Just using a commercial model as a stand-in
Just give up on the job (not a good option, not a desirable one, but just to cover all of them. . .)
Pay to have someone build it for you (How fat is your wallet?)
The question then becomes, which compromise, or set of compromises, is best for you? Which is best for you now, vs. which might be best for you some time in the future?
OK, where to start. . .I haven't had too much luck on cog railroad construction articles as such, but did find another source of commercial cog railroad models, based on European narrow-gauge prototypes. This firm's line includes engines reminiscent of those once operated by the Pikes Peak Railroad in Colorado:
http://shop.ferro-train.com/FerrotrainShop/Category/100004/3.aspx
Be forewarned, this stuff is a bit pricey (locomotives are over 200 Euros, a turnout is 60 Euros), but it is commercially available, and most cog railroads weren't that extensive, most didn't have huge rosters of hundreds of locomotives like a Class I.
I'll try to get back with ideas on how to build one of these things, but keep in mind, they will be largely theoretical; I've scratched up parts such as cabs, and assembled some very challenging kits, but have never scratchbuilt a locomotive. While I might suggest something logical, you must realize I don't have the actual experience at it. Still, I hope whatever I say may be of some use.
In the meantime, we have some people in Great Britain discussing the construction of a cog railway--rack railroad to them, referring to the toothed center rail, or rack--including comments on what is commercially available, and working with various mechanisms to make something else.
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/37630-swiss-mountain-railways/page-5
We'll close out for now with this vintage article from Popular Mechanics in 1961, revealing one modeler's approach. It's actually an adhesion model, and the compromises and errors have to be seen to be believed, but it's also a glimpse of how things sometimes had to be done in the "good old days."
http://books.google.com/books?id=i98DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA190&dq=pikes+peak+model+railroad&hl=en&sa=X&ei=laQAUs7aFdWz4AOT94GoCg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=pikes%20peak%20model%20railroad&f=false
To Pops : Awesome amount of info J2.
To 13a-614 : Great article; the gentleman who did that work was a really good machinist & model builder. It brought back memories going through that issue looking at was available at that time . I still like film cameras better than digital though I own both types . I even have one of those Polaroid cameras in my collection . Thanks for the Memories. J2
man you guys are confusing me on what to do about this I think I will have to forget about my idea of building my railway to the moon it is just goanna not work so sorry but I'm quitting on my plan
Quote from: andrewd on August 08, 2013, 04:36:07 PM
man you guys are confusing me on what to do about this I think I will have to forget about my idea of building my railway to the moon it is just goanna not work so sorry but I'm quitting on my plan
That's the problem with young modelers today. If it's not prefabbed they just give up.
Although your plans of building one was great and would have loved to see your attempt and progress, I guess we will never get to see your true talent that lies within you.
You have had some very good information given to you with pictures I might add.
Good luck with your lego's on your battle train.
Jerry
Quote from: Jerrys HO on August 08, 2013, 04:56:10 PM
That's the problem with young modelers today. If it's not prefabbed they just give up.
Jerry-
There are problems at the other end of the model railroader spectrum as well. Lots of long-time hobbyists are noticing that model parts are getting progressively smaller, so they are harder to see, and our fingers are getting larger making it more and more difficult to handle those little parts even when we can see them. Woe is us.
-- D
actually the project is back on but I'm goanna need loads of plans and luck so I already have an idea for my custom engine first a rough version out or cardboard then follow it when it's time for the real deal I am goanna practice my idea on my old engine also I need you guys to track down the name of all the engine except for pepersauce so 2 trough 10 can I trust you guys to pull this off cause I don't have enough time to track them all down so I trust you guys to do this little task for me and add which name goes to which engine and can you track down the numbers to have the number of each steamer next to the name for that engine
Quote from: Doneldon on August 08, 2013, 05:56:29 PM
Jerry-
There are problems at the other end of the model railroader spectrum as well. Lots of long-time hobbyists are noticing that model parts are getting progressively smaller, so they are harder to see, and our fingers are getting larger making it more and more difficult to handle those little parts even when we can see them. Woe is us. -- D
You noticed that as well? Plus, I went blind in my left eye, which doesn't help with depth perception. Soldering in particular is a pain so I have another local modeller install DCC and sound for me as I just can't handle the soldering of fine wires anymore. Everything is so small.
D and Roger
I know the feeling, starting to get signs of the older generation. That still is no excuse for the young one's today. If they would just start something and finish it I bet they would want to keep going. No matter how tough a model was to build, I still had the satisfaction of getting it done. I even surprised myself at how well my models turned out. Before I started building my O layout I used to build model cars, boats and planes. When I started building houses and such for railroading it sort of made it easier for me.
Jerry
May I ask why you want to model a rack railway? Is it for the challenge, which is good?
Operation will be pretty dull.
Push the one car train uphill with engine on the down hill side (They always were and still are)
Come back down hill with one car train with the engine on the down hill side.
No running around the train, nothing.
Unless you are modelling Europe where some narrow gauge railways had adhesion as well as rack sections and the boilers were only slightly raked, if at all. They ran passenger and freight trains but the inclines were not as steep as Mount Washington, for example. At a guess say 15% to 20% grades.
Quote from: andrewd on August 08, 2013, 06:13:11 PM
actually the project is back on but I'm goanna need loads of plans and luck so I already have an idea for my custom engine first a rough version out or cardboard then follow it when it's time for the real deal I am goanna practice my idea on my old engine also I need you guys to track down the name of all the engine except for pepersauce so 2 trough 10 can I trust you guys to pull this off cause I don't have enough time to track them all down so I trust you guys to do this little task for me and add which name goes to which engine and can you track down the numbers to have the number of each steamer next to the name for that engine
Andrew-
YOU don't have enough time so
we guys have to do this for you? Seriously?
Have you had your narcissistic entitlement factor calibrated recently? It seems to be
way out of line.
-- D
I found this topic and thought you might be interested.
The Mount Washington Cog Railway has always been a special place for me. I too had been looking for a model of a cog railway with no luck. So I designed one myself which I had printed out in 3d. Custom decals were also created.
It's a static model, but I tried to keep it as close to prototypical as possible.
(http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp30/belpaire/2015-10-26%2014.32.51%20HDR_zpsjnzwwzdr.jpg)
If Bachmann were to consider making a model, I would certainly share my design. I wouldn't hold my breath though, the model is tiny.
I must congratulate Belpaire on his model, which certainly looks good and appears to represent an engine with a new boiler. And yes, it is tiny, as can be noted by comparing this very attractive model with the HO track under it.
A thought on now to make such a tiny model operational--given the relatively limited operational possibilities compared with some other things, why not animate it with a string, in effect making this a funicular or incline? This might make the model more in the line of animated scenery than a railroad, but it could answer how to make such a railroad actually move.
Having rode the West Coast Wilderness Railway in Tasmania, I am also interested.
As the Rly was built as a common carrier, it was the main connection from the mines at Queenstown to the
wharfs at Strahan. Engines lead the trains both ways, from Halls Creek Siding (start of rack section)with a grade of 6.25 % to the summit at Rinadeena Saddle, down grade is 5% to Dubbil Barril (Double Barrel). The section from Queenstown to Dubbil Barril is operated by Adhension/Rack steam engines. At Dubbil Barril ( end of rack section) a passing track and turntable allows for switching of power/trains and a diesel takes the train on to Strahan.
The Rly was shutdown in 1963, rebuilding started in 1989, and the trip is worth taking if you are ever in Tasmania.
Ken Clark
GWN
Nice model! It seemed only a matter of time before we started seeing what can be accomplished with 3D printing. I wonder about the possibilities of purchasing working mechanisms and simply printing the superstructures to create whatever model we wish. Interesting. Thanks for sharing your project.
Regards,
Jonathan
I have, of course, contemplated ways to make it operable but haven't come up with any solutions that would work while keeping it looking right. One big problem is that it would need to have operating cog gears in the middle if it is to work like the real thing. The string idea would work when viewed from a distance but I would want something more like the prototype.
Quote from: Belpaire on December 03, 2015, 02:06:25 PM
I have, of course, contemplated ways to make it operable but haven't come up with any solutions that would work while keeping it looking right. One big problem is that it would need to have operating cog gears in the middle if it is to work like the real thing. The string idea would work when viewed from a distance but I would want something more like the prototype.
The whole problem as I see it revolves aroung the very small size of this locomotive. It is tiny! That is a challenge both for a working rack system and also for powering the locomotive itself; I think it's actually a good deal smaller than a Trackmobile model that's available, and much more of it is open.
You may have already considered this, but an alternative idea that kind of gets away from the primitive string arrangement would be to keep this locomotive a "dummy," and power the passenger car that would be going up the hill with it. That would gain the advantage of a body that's of decent size to enclose a mechanism, and the prototype does have cog wheels to engage the rack for braking. The locomotive still can't move by itself, and the coupling between engine and coach will have to be inconspicuous (the prototype doesn't even have couplers, but instead a pair of rollers that act as a type of buffer, working in compression only), but it would be a lot easier to cobble up a mechanism that could fit and even be hidden in the coach than doing the same for this locomotive.
Funny you should mention powered coach. This is from a 1954 RMC article.
(http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp30/belpaire/2006118201120_Cog01_zpsteuqextg.jpg)
Quote from: rogertra on August 08, 2013, 08:12:45 PM
May I ask why you want to model a rack railway? Is it for the challenge, which is good?
Operation will be pretty dull.
Push the one car train uphill with engine on the down hill side (They always were and still are)
Come back down hill with one car train with the engine on the down hill side.
No running around the train, nothing.
Unless you are modelling Europe where some narrow gauge railways had adhesion as well as rack sections and the boilers were only slightly raked, if at all. They ran passenger and freight trains but the inclines were not as steep as Mount Washington, for example. At a guess say 15% to 20% grades.
Yeah, so dull: (http://www.mendotraintony.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/1909-shot-of-a-Kitson-Meyer-0-8-6-0-T.jpg) ;) Kitson-Meyer of the Trans-Andean railway between Chile and Argentina. The inclined cylinders drove the cog.
Hope Bachmann forgives the link but as they will never be making rack locos they should be tolerant!
HO scale. 9mm gauge. Site is German Language but we can all read pictures.http://shop.ferro-train.com/ferrotrainshop/Category/100004/3.aspx
Quote from: Belpaire on December 04, 2015, 08:06:51 AM
Funny you should mention powered coach. This is from a 1954 RMC article.
(http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp30/belpaire/2006118201120_Cog01_zpsteuqextg.jpg)
Great minds think alike! :D
Actually that model work from the 1950s still looks good, and it's interesting to look at that inconspicuous (and primitive but effective!) "coupling" between a dummy locomotive and powered coach!
That in turn has me wondering what became of a lot of the scratchbuilt models made back then. Some were real beauties, often of prototypes that were never offered commercially, not even in brass. Some steam models in larger scales such as O would feature valve gear that had a driving motor to put the gear into forward or reverse position as was appropriate for the model's movement. One fellow in England built a live steam version of the Virginian AE (2-10-10-2) in HO in the 1960s; it looked good and supposedly ran well.
There were published photographs of a model railroad in O scale that had multiple live steam models, may even have been operated entirely with them. The models in the photograph were of Southern Pacific prototypes, and included a Daylight and a cab-forward.
I might mention there was a live steam model company, Little Engines, that offered parts for engines in this size as late as the 1970s, and for all I know may still offer some of that today.
One would hope these models and others found good homes later.
Go to littleengines.com.
I saw someone mention the Ferro Train Line, Reynaulds actually sells is now if anyone is interested: http://www.reynaulds.com/catalog/dept_1726.aspx (http://www.reynaulds.com/catalog/dept_1726.aspx) That is just the starter sets, they have other stuff like passenger cars, track, including switches, and locos.